Phuket review identifies 1,752 companies with foreign shareholders amid nominee probe

A Thai parliamentary anti-corruption committee said 1,752 companies in Phuket have foreign shareholders as authorities investigate allegations that foreign nationals use Thai nominees to register businesses and hold land.

The House committee on the prevention and suppression of corruption and misconduct discussed the issue at Parliament on 6 August 2026, following a fact-finding visit to Phuket on 26–27 June. Committee chairman Asapol Santraiphop said the inquiry covered business registrations, company ownership and land-title holdings involving foreigners.

Officials from the Land Department, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, the Department of Business Development, economic-crime police, the Phuket provincial commerce office and other agencies attended the meeting.

The Department of Business Development said it had issued four orders and two notifications to screen company registrations that might involve Thai nationals holding shares on behalf of foreigners. It is also studying amendments to the Foreign Business Act 1999 and checking legal entities considered at risk of being nominees.

The 1,752 Phuket companies with foreign shareholders have been sent to the Phuket governor for review by the provincial committee, according to the committee chairman. The department and the Land Department also plan to link 13-digit legal-entity identification numbers to improve the speed and effectiveness of checks.

The Phuket provincial commerce office has established a task force to investigate possible breaches of the Foreign Business Act. Asapol said the office reported that foreign business activity had fallen by more than 50% following the nominee checks and that about 20% of businesses had closed. Cases with evidence of wrongdoing will be forwarded to police.

Separately, the Land Department said it had reviewed 203,000 legal entities nationwide and identified 4,041 at-risk entities. Provincial committees have now been appointed in all 77 provinces, with information being compiled for joint checks with the Department of Business Development before being sent to the Board of Investment.

In Phuket, the Land Department’s data covered 6,621 legal entities, of which 361 were classified as at risk. All had been submitted to the provincial committee for consideration, the committee chairman said.

If an entity is found to be a foreign legal entity without investment-promotion approval, the director-general of the Land Department has the power to order the disposal of its land under Section 94 of the Land Code.

The Anti-Money Laundering Office told the committee that 23 government agencies were being brought together to share information on nominee arrangements. It said more than B10 billion in assets linked to nominee offences had been seized nationwide. However, nominee offences are not currently a predicate offence under Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Act 1999. The office is studying amendments that would change this and require accountants and lawyers to report transactions to it.

Economic-crime police told the committee they had brought 68 cases involving foreign business operations, most under the Foreign Business Act 1999. They said foreign land ownership was outside the unit’s direct authority.

The committee also received information about alleged beach encroachment at Nui, Bang Tao and Freedom beaches in Phuket. It said data-sharing between the Department of Business Development, the Land Department and the Anti-Money Laundering Office was an important part of expanding checks nationwide.